


Do not go gentle into that good night

by LadyPalma



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, What-If, everyone protects melisandre, melisandre lives, post 8x03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyPalma/pseuds/LadyPalma
Summary: What if Davos picked Melisandre's necklace from the ground and accidentally brought her somehow back to life? What if Melisandre's life was literally in the hands of her worst enemy? Would he kill her or maybe, find a way to forgive her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know I have another long-fic about them to finish, but I couldn't get this idea out of my mind. It is a translation of a story I'm writing in Italian, so actually I don't know how it sounds in English.

_**Do not go gentle into that good night,** _

_**rage, rage, against the dying of the light** _

**(Dylan Thomas)**

 

**1.**

He watched her go gently into the end of night and something in her figure forced him to change him mind about following her. As she removed her red necklace, he almost unconsciously put aways his sword.

She kept walking, slowly and regally, as a queen standing stoically after refusing the crown. As a goddess finally becoming human.

Davos could not do anything but stare almost hypnotized, almost as if he were under a spell. He kept following her, only with the eyes, until he saw her figure become more and more little and more and more unstable, and most of all her burning red hair turn into grey. That change, instead of paralyzying him even more, quite the contrary shook him from his contemplation and pushed him to move quicker toward her. He had no idea himself of what he wanted to do to her - maybe finish her for ever or maybe just understand the ending of that long witch life that he had witnessed for only a little part. His intentions had no matter though, because while he was making his way through the dead bodies of the fallen heroes of the war, his foot hit something. A metallic sound attracted his attention and he somehow recognized the object from the sound even before looking at it. It was the well known red necklace that belonged to the Red Woman.

Without hesitance, filled with an unexplainable rush, he picked it up. At the simple contact between his hands and the gold, cold against cold, the ruby at the centre suddenly lit up. The brilliant red nearly blinded him, but instead of throwing the object away, he found hismelf grabbing it harder. He was so enchanted by that light that he was almost compelled. Was it maybe the Red Woman’s last enchantment, before going to die?

But the sound of a sequence of light steps made him look up. Melisandre was standing now in front of him. Beautiful and young as ever, still bursting of life, exception made for the look in her eyes. The dark night was over but the terror was now painted on her face.

“What is happening?” Davos asked, taking instinctively a step back, but still holding his grip on the necklace.

“You should tell me, Ser davos” she replied, for the first time without answeres to give and confused as well as him.

She moved one of her hands, not to touch him but to take the necklace back. In spite of his hrip, feeling the woman’s accidental touch on the back of his hand, he left the object immediately. But as soon as the object returned into her hands, the ruby died out and a pain filled her, distorting her face.

“What is happening? What is happening to you?” Davos asked again, with a new worry.

Ageing and death were now back on her face and were showing through white hair, wrinkles and most of the light fading in her blue eyes. As for a last desire of life, Melisandre almost threw the necklace in his hands and as soon as the ruby started to shine again, she was shining back as well.

“I was going to die, I thought my days were over after a three hundreds years long life but… For some reason, you are keeping me alive. You among all people, Ser Davos”

The terror on her face wasn’t gone as she said that sort of explanation, but at the end of it, an ironic smile appeared on her lips.

“It ws the necklace keeping me young and beautiful… The light of the necklace was finally dying but you lit it up”

Incredulous, the man swallowed hard and moved his eyes from the woman to the jewel. It was actually a last enchantment, after all, but he was mistaken: he was the one to perform it somehow, without wanting it, without believing it and even without having any power.

“What should I do?”

Despite his diffidence and his hate, she was still the one he was asking to. She looked confused and scared, but surely she must have known better than him. That woman had given him another problem and now she had to tell him what to do to solve it. But what could the solution be, if he did not even fully understand the nature of the problem? He had only grasped that he had to keep the damned necklace in his hands and that the woman had not stopped hunting him yet. Melisandre’s sudden laugh took him by surprise even more. It was a weak, sad, almost pathetic laugh.

“Oh, Ser Davos, i think that you should really throw that necklace far away. You really don’t get it?” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And actually it was.

Now he did get it.

Keeping the necklace and keeping her alive were a problem _only if_ he wanted to keep her alive. The life of the witch was litterally in his hands: releasing his palms from the object would have been sufficient to watch her disappear. To make justice for Shireen. What he had wanted to obtain, asking Jon for an execution and then thinking to follow her just a couple of minutes before, was now there for him on a silver plate.

Actually, on a golden and ruby necklace.

And yet he hesitated. He could not tell why, maybe it was for the same reason why he had let the gates open for her during the battle, letting her in. Then, he had understood that she could have been useful. Now, he knew that she had been indie. That she had done some good, even if it costed him a great deal to admit it.

Now he knew that Melisandre of Asshai was the light and the darkness.

She was the _light_ full of terrors.

The tiny line between the good night and the dying of the light.

“I promised you that I would have died before dawn. I should have known that it would have been you. So, do it, kill me”

She urged him, with resignation more than desperation, waiting for death and accepting that change of plan just as an ironic delay.

He still hesitated. He could kill her and he also should have, but suddenly it was like he did not want to do that anymore. He had dreamt of killing her with his bare hands for so long, even before finding out about Shireen. But he did not want to kill _her_ , only the witch that he had always seen and not the fragile woman he was seeing now.

He remained still and in silence for a while, uncertain between the past, the present and the future he could have allow her to live. Until, suddenly, he moved, far from her but not from the necklace.

“Where are you going, Ser Davos?”

He looked back, only to find her almost angry and disappointed. That reaction made him smile for the first time. Did she really want to die? He would have condemned her to live, then.

“I need Gendry’s help. Don’t go anywhere, Red Woman”

And he headed back to the survived castle, with the necklace remembering him that the night could be gentle but he had been called to keep fighting against the dying of the light.


	2. 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry and Arya try to defend Melisandre and Davos makes a choice.  
> Hints to Gendrya.

Entering the improvised laboratory in the castle where Gendry worked as blacksmith,  Davos did not expect to really find the boy there. After all, the end of the world had just happened and, for all he knew, the last Baratheon could have even ran away before the battle and started again to roam in the other direction. Instead, against all his predictions, not only he saw him but also caught him with the youngest Stark girl in his arms. They both seemed filled with a burning passion – that for him could only be a distant memory.

“Ehm.. Sorry to interrupt” he said, showing himself and also his embarassment.

For him, because of the age of the couple and the particular relationship he had with the boy, it was a bit like catching his own children in that sort of situation. And on the other hand, for them, both orphans, the impression was similiar to be caught by a parent: the blushing on their faces when they parted from their kiss perfectly confirmed that.

“Ser Davos… I am glad you survived!” Gendry started.

“And I am glad too to see you both alive… And so happy”

A short silence followed that sort of joke, broken in the end by a sudden laugh from the three of them in the same time. A laugh not amused or joyful, but one that sounded of relief and incredulity. Incredulity of being alive after the night and its terrors, and of allowing themselves to think about something like love.

“By the way, Lady Arya, I’ve heard that you are the hero we owe victory” Ser Davos said, looking at the girl with full admiration.

“Yes, it seemed it had always been my fate. The Red Woman was right” she replied, with a strange smile.

Davos was not sure of the meaning of those words, nor if they were said explicitly to send a message to him; however, he tried not to think about those new questions because the mention of Melisandre awakened him from the fleeting joy of that reunion, making him suddenly remember the real reason of his presence there. Therefore, he raised the necklace, which was still in his hand, and took some steps toward them, ready to talk about the problem and ask the blacksmith for help. But before he could speak, Arya recognized the object.

“What happened to the Red Woman?”

“She removed the necklace and was about to die… Unfortunately, I picked it up and somehow, keeping this damned object close, I am keeping her alive”

Maybe called by the silent enchantment of the necklace that had effected Davos himself, both the others took a step forward. Not speaking, the girl took the jewel from his hand, and after some moments handed it to the boy as well. As if Melisandre’s words and what his eyes had seen hadn’t been enough, Davos felt completely shocked seeing the ruby losing its light in Arya and Gendry’s hands, and only started to shine again when it was back in his own.

“You are really keeping her alive” Arya whispered, with sincere astonishment, in spite of all the absurd things she had witnessed during that long night. But soon, she looked back at the Onion Knight with a sudden hard glance. “What do you intend to do? Destroy the necklace and kill her?”

“I can’t deny that the idea tempt me”

“Well, I can’t allow you to do that!” she said, and her voice sounded almost like a threat.

The strong reaction of the girl sounded unsual to both of the men. It was Gendry the first to speak this time.

“Wasn’t she one of the names on your list?”

“Yes. As Beric Dondarrion and the Hound. I wanted to kill them all, once. But I wrote off those three names tonight and now they are on top of the list of people I want to protect… At least the ones that are still alive” Arya explained. “I’ve seen a bigger picture and I have to thank each of them if I succeeded in my mission”

Davos studied her for a while, surprised to descover how the young Stark was ready to defend and forgive the very same person he considered the worst on Earth. Anger and pain suddenly filled him in front of what he saw as a pure absurdity.

“I’m glad you can forgive so easily, Lady Arya. I can’t. Maybe you have no idea of what that woman did to me”

“I do, Ser Davos. My sister Sansa told me everything. It’s not about forgiving, but understanding. Now I think I understand all the actions of the Red Woman. Instead, Cersei and the Mountain are still on my list and I have no intention of writing them off”

During that explanation, Arya kept her defying look on Davos. Her last glance before leaving was for Gendry though.

“I have to find Jon. Keep an eye on him” she said, clearly talking about Ser Davos. “Don’t allow him to hurt her. And, most of all, don’t help him in any way”

 

**

 

“I don’t think Arya could complain about this kind of help” Gendry ironically commented about twenty minutes later, as he contemplated his work.

The gold of the necklace laid destoryed on his countertop, but the ruby, completely untouched, was instead now set in a bracelet made of steel that Davos was wearing on his wrist. On the contrary of Arya’s predictions, the man had no intention to destroy the necklace but actually went to Gendry exactly to turn it  into something more practical, so that he could have brought it always stuck on his skin.

The help he was seeking was not to kill the Red Woman but to save her.

“Can I ask you a question?” the blacksmith asked, not waiting for a nod before continuing. “Why? Why are you saving her if you hate her?”

Davos, who was staring at the new shape of the object as well, looked up and took some moments to think about the question. Since  the idea of asking Gendry’s help had crossed his mind, he did not reflect about it enough to doubt it, choosing instead to let it sink almost unconsciously in him. He had thought about letting her live, he had found a way and then he had acted. For the moment, he didn’t want to think about the reason why he had decided to give up on his revenge, it would have been vain and also painful for his clashing feelings.

Now though, after the decision was totally made, the moment to think was back and Gendry’s question only gave a concrete form to it.

“I don’t know” he aswered, in the end.

And it was true. Was it maybe because he had been shocked by the power of the object? Or because he had grasped that Melisandre’s death would have meant freedom for her and not a punishment? Or because he wanted to keep her alive just enough to make a process against her and then kill her in the most rightful way? He couldn’t say, but he recognized his curiosity about the special link that surely had to exist between him and the Red Woman.

Maybe Arya Stark was right after all. There was a difference between forgiving and understanding.

But at the fleeting thought about understanding her actions, Shireen Baratheon, the girl he had loved as his own, appeared in front of his eyes.

“Do _you_ know what the woman did?” he asked the boy, with sudden harshness. “She took a little girl and burned her alive. Shireen, Stannis’s daughter, your cousin! She convinced her father and her mother to let her burn. And why? To follow what she thought to see in the fire!”

Gendry looked sorry, but for some reason not impressed.

“It’s terrible… But, in then end, she saw something right in the fire, didn’t she?” the boy said a bit too abruptly. And in fact, realizing that the knight’s anger was getting worse, he kept talking. “I can understand you more than anyone, Ser Davos, The Red Woman wanted to kill me too, do you remember? And I would’ve ended just like Shireen if it wasn’t for you. Arya wanted to kill her for what she did to me”

“So.. Now are you saying that you forgave her for what she did to you?”

Gendry half smiled at that provocation.

“No, but instead of you I had time to stay away from wars for power and to think… While I was roaming” His smile widened mentioning that shared memory, but then it died down suddenly and his expression returned serious. “I’ve realized that the person I should’ve been afraid of was not the Red Woman. I can understand the idea of a human sacrifice for a grater good, it’s something very common for religious fanatic. But do you know who is beyond my understanding? Stannis. If you ask me, that would have been the first name on my personal list”

Davos did not answer, but anger vanished from his face, leaving space to surprise and a strange form of fear.

In fact, he was surprised that already two people claimed to understand the Red Woman.

And scared to find out that, if he tried enough, maybe he could understand her too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the reviews! Hope you liked this chapter as well, I'd like to post the next one on Tuesday.  
> I hope that Gendry and Arya sounded IC: I think that their point of view could be understandable, especially Arya's change after defeating the Night King. Melisandre and Arya are a relationship I really want to develop in this story.   
> As any lawyer would do, I'm pointing to another bad person to prove the innocence of my character - and that someone is Stannis. Next chapter I'm going to call as witness Brienne. So you are warned about Stannis being the "villain" in this story lol


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Brienne defends Melisandre

3.

It did not take much time for Davos to find the Red Woman. The half hour they had not been together seemed not to have passed for her. All around, life had started again: relatives, lovers and friends were reunited, while other survivors were crying their losses. In all of this, Melisandre had remained in the same place where he had left her, staring at the empty snowy road where she had almost disappeared, before the man's gesture brought her back. He spotted her from a few meters and allowed himself some moments to look at her, with her hair free in the wind and her trembling body wrapped in the light red dress.

"You should have picked your mantle from the ground" he started, when he was close enough to be heard. "I did not spare your life just to see you die for freezing. Not that I dislike the idea".

Hearing the familiar voice of the knight, she looked back. The cold tone used and the evil remark were the least she had expected from him; on the contrary, the surprise was to be still alive. Actually, for a couple of times she had felt the very same pain of when she had removed the necklace, but right when she had began to think that finally Davos had decided to kill her, all went back to normal. Maybe, he had tried and then changed his mind, or maybe he just had put the object down for some instants. Out of instict, she looked down to the man's hand searching for the necklace and when she did not find it, she looked up with a questioning expression.

"Are you looking for your precious ruby?" Davos asked, guessing her thoughts. With a quick gesture, he raised the sleeve of his heavy cloth, showing his new bracelet with the stone in it.

"It looks good on you" she commented in a whisper. It was hard to say if she was ironic or sincere, her tone seemed far and almost evanescent. "I suppose I have to thank you, Ser Davos".

A half smile – or better a desdained smirk - appeared on the man's lips. After years of being enemies strangely fighting on the same side of the barricade, Melisandre was still amazed of how that good, kind and wise man could still show so much disgust and harshness when it came to her.

"Spare your breathe. I can be happy just not seeing you ever again, and if that is not possible, to see you the less that I can".

In contradiction with his words, the woman approached him. She was almost grabbing one of his arms, trying to create a physical contact, as she was used to with all the people she found speaking to – and she caught and stopped herself right before she did. But still, she had something important to say and he would have listened.

"I know I have hurt you, I know how much you care about little –"

"Don't you dare saying her name!"

That quick hiss made her shiver more than if it had been a scream.

"I am sorry" she said again, anyway. "What I am trying to say is that I would like to so something for you. If not to thank you, at least to try and make you feel better"

This time, he stared at her for a while, while she stared back at him. Blue eyes against blue eyes, harshness and sweetness for once completely exchanged.

"The only thing that could make me feel better is seeing you suffer as you made suffer Shireen" he finally answered. And he stressed the name meaning that he, instead of her, had every right to say it aloud. And that he would have never forget it. "But this is not going to take her back. So, just try not to show your face around me and remember that, if you ever use your magic again, I won't hesitate to kill you this time!" he finished, raising slowly his hand to show once again the bracelet he could use to control her life. With one last eloquent glance, he started to walk away. "

Ser Davos" she called him back, almost immediately. "I can't do any magic anymore: I have lost every power along with that necklace, I can't even see in the fire… I am just a woman now."

Davos stopped moving and turned his head to look at her one last time. Actually, she looked more human with her sad eyes and he could not deny to find her more beautiful than he had ever thought. In that moment, a strange thought crossed his mind, that she could be more dangerous as a woman than as a witch.

Maybe because you can understand a woman, while a witch is way easier to hate.

Nevertheless, he chose not to comment and just nodded.

"Well, I suppose this is a solace".

* * *

The following seven days went by quickly, as a pause made of rest and celebration, interposed by the count of the dead and their burying. For Davos the enthusiasm of the survival had been troubled by the weight of the new object on his arm; the thought of Melisandre caught him often in the day: a sea of hate with quick and unexpected waves of sympathy. The only relief was that at least he had managed not to cross her path at all. Anyway, the rest from the war didn't last long and at the end of that week there was the first meeting among Lords and knights. The purposes were two: organizing the rebuilding of Winterfell and prepare was against Cersei for the throne. It was right after that meeting, as he was leaving the room along with Tyrion, that he was approached by Brienne of Tarth.

"Ser Davos, may I have a word?"

The man was surprised but still made a hint to the Lannister to go on without him. He could not imagine what Lady Sansa's shield wanted from him; for a moment, he even wondered if that was not just a diversion of the woman to avoid Jaime Lannister or Tormund.

"Ser Brienne, what can I do for you?" he kindly asked, stressing her brand new title.

She hinted a smile, but bluntly reached the topic she had in mind. "I want to speak about you, actually. I have heard abouut the new situation of the Red Woman and, if you allow, I wanted to say something about it".

He took those words with a look that expressed suspicion and at the same time amusement.

"Lady Arya sent you, didn't she?"

"Lady Arya cares about the woman, or so it seems, but it was Lady Sansa to tell me everything and what I have to say it completely personal" she said and from the suddenly pained look on her face her sincerity was not questionable. "If you remember, I have lost someone dear to me because of the Red Woman as well. I was loyal to Renly and I would have done anything for him. She was the one to create the monster that killed him in front of my eyes. She did that, she and Stannis."

She made a pause, maybe going with her memory back to the times spent as a warrior for the younger Baratheon, or maybe to the adventures she had lived right because at some point her king had died.

"I swore revenge for my king and I had it" she continued. "I put my sword in Stannis's chest, and yet no matter how many chances I had to kill the Red Woman, I never even had the impulse to do it. Can you guess why?"

Davos was staring at her, waiting. He had not forgotten that it was Brienne to kill Stannis, but he had completely removed instead that, following that very same logic, she should have killed Melisandre too.

"Tell me" he said, almost urgently.

"Because Renly was nothing for her, she just wanted to win a war for her king and found a way to do that. And the same thing happened with your dear princess, don't you see it? She was the one to give birth to the shadow, she was the one to light the fire, but only because the idea was approved by Stannis. Stannis gave the order. Stannis was Renly's brother, Stannis was Shireen's father. Renly and Shireen were his responsibilities, not the Red Woman's."

The onion knight took all the time to grasp the meaning of that speech. He could not say to agree, but he had to admit that he had never seen things in that point of view. He had always been so focused on hating Melisandre that he had ended up reducing Stannis to an unwilling victim. And yet the king he had served for years had willingly chose to trust magic and he had done that for ambition and power. It was for the promise of the throne that he killed both the brother and the daughter.

Shireen for Melisandre was a child to burn in exchange for what she believed was a greater good, a crazy sacrifice for the Lord of the Light.

But how much had meant Shireen for Stannis? Just a stupid battle.

A daughter in exchange of a stupid losing battle.

Thinking about that now, he felt himself shiver.

"Are you suggesting to forgive her?" he managed to ask in the end.

Funny how many people had reasons to hate Melisandre.

Funny how all those people were now trying to defend her instead.

Brienne shook her head and gave him a smile.

"No, I am just saying to finally stop thinking about Stannis as the friend you had lost. Maybe then you will find a place to hate the Red Woman less".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no excuses for posting so late. I have written 10 chapters for this story, but I guess I am too lazy to translate in English. Anyway, Brienne is in the team Melisandre as well (and Stannis is officially the villain of this story lol). Keep in mind the fact that Davos said that he would like to see Melisandre suffer, because there will be a twist in next chapter and things may become a little darker. Hope someone is still interested in this story, I'll try to update soon!


	4. 4.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (in which Davos and Melisandre get close)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter and the next one contain hints to past rape and abuse (nothing graphic).

Davos Seaworth was one of the ones leaving for King's Landing, not much because he cared about the throne, but more because there was little left in his life anymore apart from his role as advisor. Jon Snow would have left and he would have gone with him, proud at least to follow a man that was truly good and just. The new point of view on Stannis, suggested both by Gendry and Brienne, made the young King in the North more dear to him somehow. The more he remembered Stannis's mistakes, the more he admired Jon.

And in the same way, without even realizing it, the way he saw the Red Woman was changing as well.

Right as Brienne had predicted, in the moment he started to reconsider Stannis, he had also started to divert on him all his pain and his rage. He had began to hate Stannis and that hate was somehow removed from Melisandre.

If he thought about her now, he could even felt compassion. And so, for that feeling, he hated himself too. But, paradoxically, that hate was other hate to be removed from her.

Maybe it was for that whirlwind of doubts and thoughts that kept his mind busy during the night before the departure, that he didn't found himself annoyed when he saw the Red Woman right in front of his door.

"Ser Davos, am I interrupting something?"

The slightly trembling voice and the eyes, once again filled with unusual sadness, were making her appear actually human. She seemed to be afraid of being sent away, but at the same time in her attitude there was the determination of making him allow her in. Looking at her like that after ten days of distance, ten days during which a slow revolution had happened in his mind, he found himself unable to push her away. On the contrary, he let her in the room and the look on his face – he could imagine that – was not as cold as he wished.

"What do you want?" he asked, trying to use a harsh tone.

Melisandre closed the door behind her and approached him slowly, stopping only when she was at just a few steps distant.

"I know you said that you don't want to see me anymore and I will keep this promise, but before I have to repay my debt to you… And I think I have found the way".

Before he could even think of asking a further explanayion, she removed her red dress remaining completely naked in front of him.

Davos widened his eyes, taken by surprise, and then forced himself to look away.

"Get dressed immediately" he said and this time the harshness in his voice was not fictional.

Still not looking at her, he tried to surpass her but she was quicker and actually threw herself in his arms.

"How much time is it since you had a woman, Onion Knight? You can have me.  _Use me_. Show me how much you hate me."

The words were just whisperes face against face, their noses slightly touching.

"Leave"

"Do of me what you want"

They spoke together and when their mouths closed, there was a long moment of silence before their lips finally locked.

Maybe it was for the attempt of justifying her still fresh in his mind, or because the hate for her was less and had revealed a secret attraction, or maybe it was just because he was a man and she was a woman whom it was impossibile to say no to. Anyway, his resistance was won in the end when he kissed her with passion and took her on his bed.

Thinking about their relationship, it could have been expected an aggressive and violent meeting. Instead, she let him willingly take control and he took all the time to explore her body, to kiss her and to make sure that she felt pleasure as well. Actually, strangely, he made giving her pleasure the priority.

Such an ending was not clearly what Davos imagined opening the door to the Red Woman.

But, on the other hand, it wasn't even what Melisandre had wanted from him in the first place.

* * *

He had kissed her when he should have bitten her.

He had caressed her when he should have scratched her.

And he had given her pleasure when all she needed was pain.

Laying one next to the other, their skin slightly touched under the sheets and their breaths slowly returned at the natural rhytm. Their passion had just finished and, against any expectation, Melisandre found herself silently crying. Thanks to the lights of the candles, Davos clearly saw the tears, maybe even before she could.

"You're crying" he said at loud, confused and also worried for that reaction.

Even if the main emotion was for a long moment the simple astonishment, since he had never thought of seeing her crying.

"Are you alright? I did something wrong?"

Melisandre touched her cheeks, finding them wet and seemed surprised too. Then she slowly turned to him. Those questions and the kind tone for some reasons made her want to cry harder. However, she weakly shook her head and hinted a smile.

"No, you did nothing wrong and that is exactly the problem" she whispered. "You wanted to see me suffer and I have given you the chance… This could have fixed everything, And now you just have ruined it."

Davos stared at her without understanding. She had thrown herself at him and he was the one who had ruined everything? How was that possible? In the brief lucid moments during their passion, he had convinced himself that she wanted to seduce him and that the repayment she wanted to offer was just sex. Now instead, she looked sad because that plan of seduction had worked so well.

"What did you want? That I hurt you? That I forced myself on you?" he asked ironically.

But she did not deny that exaggeration; on the contrary she stared at him making him understand that he had unwillingly hit the point.

"I know men, Ser Davos. They always feel better when they can punish a woman and take some pleasure from it at the same time. This time I wouldn't have opposed, I know I would deserve it."

"You are saying that… You came here to push me to… To do what? Hurt you? What kind of man do you think I am if-"

The indignant words died in his throat, as soon as he realized the true gravity behind what she was saying. It was nota an accusation  _to him_ , but an accidental confession  _about her_.

"Wait… You… Have you been raped?" he dared to ask, with the most kind tone he could manage to find, hoping to have get it wrong.

But she didn't get agitated at all and only shrugged nonchalantly. The answer she gave made the blood freeze into his veins.

" _Many times, it's normal."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is the new chapter, sooner than I thought, as sooner will come chapter 5 because I don't want to leave the cliffhanger. I was unsure to publish it because the idea is strong, but actually I think that Melisandre could have some history of violence and lack of love, which I'll try to explain. Anyway, I want to underline the fact that it was NOT her past the reason why they get close (he had already started to reconsider her before), but it is important to make him understand her more. I really want to know what you think of this twist, and thanks so much for the reviews so far!

**Author's Note:**

> The plan is to explore Davos's feelings and thoughts about Melisandre and let him gradually find a way to forgive her - also thanks to other characters (a whole defense squad for the Red Woman is coming!). Gendry and Arya are coming next chapter. I know it is hard to make them work as a couple not deleting Shireen's death, but I plan to do just that and to ake it as believable as possible lol  
> Comments are really appreciated - even just to tell me if I'm crazy or not.


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